St. John of Nepomuk / Sv. Jan Nepomucký - Litomerice (Central Bohemia)
N 50° 32.076 E 014° 07.738
33U E 438271 N 5598434
The depicted Baroque statue of St. John of Nepomuk ( Sv. Jan Nepomucký) is situated at the wall of Classicist building in Michalská street 59/12 in Litomerice historic centre.
Waymark Code: WMV8FX
Location: Ústecký kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 03/14/2017
Views: 35
The depicted Baroque statue of St. John of Nepomuk ( Sv. Jan Nepomucký) is situated at the wall of Classicist building in Michalská street 59/12 in Litomerice historic centre.
Baroque sandstone statue, work of unknown sculptor, was erected at the expenses of Litomerice reeve Gottfried Sebastian Heintz in 1706. The saint's statue stands on almost 5 meters high tiered sandstone pedestal which has decorated volute second tier.
John of Nepomuk (1345–1393) is a national saint of the Czech Republic, who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods.
The statue of St. John of Nepomuk is often encountered in Central Europe, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Poland and Lithuania. He is usually portrayed with a halo of five stars, commemorating the stars that hovered over the Vltava River on the night of his murder. Other attributes useful to identify his pictures are: a priestly dress, the palm of martyrs, carrying a cross, an angel indicating silence by a finger over the lips. A statue of Saint John of Nepomuk has often been erected on bridges in many countries, such as on the Ponte Milvio in Rome.
[excerpted from Wikipedia]